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JASH
The cold night air in the Reach felt like it was threatening to pull the scales off my body. It wasn’t just the cold, it was the fact I was racing across the uneven ground on Lightning’s back. The darkness was so thick that even the fur on the unicorn’s body was dimmed.
I spared a glance at Aela the Huntress who managed to barely keep up with my speed on her mount. If not for our familiarity with the Hold, we would have had to move a lot slower. The Reach hardly had any place that wasn’t tilted in some fashion. Then there was the fact that various caves hid factions that would attack without bothering to ask your name.
Aela, unlike me, wasn’t as affected by the cold. In fact it hardly seemed to affect her. While I would always prefer to be a Saxhleel, being a Nord would be preferable to experiencing the cold.
If not for the fact that we were racing to rescue Alex Casey, my husband, I would have made camp and continued our search in the morning. Most people weren’t worth the agony of courting death. Not that it would be easy to kill a Daedric Prince and a cold night probably wouldn’t work.
But it was still painful.
Nine years ago Alex had come back into my life. The year before that I had resigned myself to living a life without him. He had made it back into my arms with the help of Alan Wake. In the nine years since we were married, our devotion to each other had never once wavered.
Even though Earth was completely different than Skyrim, Alex had adapted well into his new life. He even managed to make sure that his goals in this place were similar to the home he had left behind.
Alex had been an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. So something like the Skooma trade got under his skin. Even though it was pointless, he had made it his eternal quest to stop it. And so his obsession had turned into a game between us.
I was addicted to the substance and always carried a few bottles on my person when traveling. I also was connected with the Khajiit traders and so was further incentivized to keep the illegal trade from crumbling.
Neither of us wanted to change the other and so the game continued. Currently it had seen Alex captured by bandits.
Aga-I had to quickly stop Lightning before he ran right into Aela’s mount.
All of my senses noticed every part of our surroundings. Was there a zombie? A dragon about to attack? One of the many factions that wished me dead?
My examination of the mountainous area ended at the dead horse on the ground. A few scavengers must have come by recently as there were small chunks taken out of it. Aela pointed to the arrow embedded deep in the creature’s skull.
Alex’s signature. He had always struggled with using a bow and yet he continued to insist on using them when traveling. Which tended to end up with dead horses. The cause of death usually being an arrow to the head.
“You need to tell your husband that he needs to use a crossbow.” Aela scoffed. “At least until he stops littering Skyrim with horse corpses.”
“You think that will help?” I chuckled. “I’ve tried. But the more I instruct him, the more he clings to the bow.”
Aela moved as if to dismount but then stopped. She looked to me for instruction. It was strange to see such faith for me in her eyes. She knew exactly what I had done and would continue to do. She knew that I was the Daedric Prince of Balance and Extremes.
“Harbinger, what do you suggest?” Aela asked. “Alex isn’t usually far from his horse. If we go the rest of the way on foot, we will be harder for the bandits to detect.”
“We need to make camp soon, Aela.” I said as it felt like one of my scales was moments away from falling off. “A werewolf and Dragonborn will make short work of any mortal bandits.”
Aela nodded and I conjured a wolf familiar. It looked around in confusion before turning to me. It would only be in existence for a few minutes before the Daedra resumed its normal form in Oblivion.
“Find Alex Casey.” I commanded and pointed to the horse.
The wolf sniffed the corpse and let out a loud howl. It then raced off with Aela and myself in pursuit.
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